by Kay, Sharon
She knew it now. Her heart’s pains and flutters had intensified over the past few days. She walked too close to the edge.
Gin sidled up next to her and linked her arm through Alina’s. “If I get updates through the mate bond, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks.” Mate bond. Alina’s agitation ratcheted up higher. A bond she would never have. But deep down, she knew Caine wanted it. With me? Oh gods. A wave of dizziness swamped her. “I need to sit down.” She sank into the beige chair.
Gin’s brows knit with worry and she dipped her head to Alina’s ear. “Are you going to get sick?”
Alina shook her head. Pregnancy dizziness and nausea already? It couldn’t be. Then again, answers about a Solsti pregnancy would be few and far between.
Brooke shot them a curious glance. “Why were you two here again?”
Alina swallowed hard. “Um, it’s a long story.”
Brooke pinned her with a don’t bullshit-me-look. “Why did Whysper say Rosa might be able to help you?”
Alina gulped and looked at Gin, who gave a tiny shrug.
“Oh my god, you know?” Brooke sat forward and looked at Gin. “Spill it!”
Gin’s gaze slid from Alina to Brooke. “Not my story to spill.”
Brooke looked at Alina and her gray eyes softened. “What is it? You look so unhappy. What can we do to help?”
Tears pricked Alina’s eyes, finally breaching the worry that surrounded her like a cocoon. “Nothing. No one can except, maybe…” She glanced at Whysper, who sat with eyes closed and palms up on the table. “Rosa.”
“Try us. You never know.” Kai lounged on the couch, one arm draped across the back and the other massaging Brooke’s shoulder.
“It’s about my element,” Alina murmured, and sighed as she took in all the eyes focused on her. It seemed petty and embarrassing now, with the threat of Elegia’s armies looming, to be upset about her love life. But maybe Brooke, Kai, or Rilan would have an idea. She took a deep breath. “I—”
Clank.
Metal clattered against wood and yanked her attention to Whysper. The black star charm lay on the floor. Whysper’s hand dangled loosely at her side.
“What happened?” Alina was out of her chair and across the room in a heartbeat, everyone else at her heels.
The witch looked like she’d run a marathon. She had dark shadows under her eyes and her breathing came in quick heaves. “Rosa was in the middle of telling me she was fine, when…”
“When what? Did the demons come?” Brooke asked.
“Something did. Her wards were breached, and our connection cut off.” Whysper shook her head. “That’s never happened before.”
Alina wanted to ask which part, but decided it didn’t matter. Either way, Rosa was in trouble.
“Do you know where she is?” Kai asked.
“Yes, thank the gods I asked that first. She’s on the biggest Orion Island.” Whysper recited the coordinates.
The Orion Islands were off Torth’s northeast coast. Wild, with rugged cliffs and famous for relentless waves, they were isolated and beautiful.
Brooke sucked in a breath. “We have to go. Now.”
“But Elegia may be coming here, and we’re supposed to fight her.” Gin frowned. “I want to help Rosa, though.”
“Should we split up?” Alina asked.
“The legend says it’ll take all four of us…hey, we should get Nicole over here.” Gin pulled out her phone and started dialing.
“It doesn’t say anything about all four of us being in the exact same place,” Alina mused.
“Hold on.” Kai paced the small kitchenette. “Elegia’s smart, right? Even though she’s a nut job.”
Everyone stared at him until Gin muttered, “Um, yeah.”
Kai ignored her sarcasm. “So, she could be trying to draw us out. She couldn’t get in here, but she had to guess she’s up against someone big. “
“But Alina doesn’t even know Rosa. If Elegia is following Alina and Sebastian, why attack Rosa?”
“Back to the theory that she’d attack anyone whose power could lessen hers,” Kai said. “She could have sent her goons and the shit’s all happening at the same time.”
“Can you get us to these coordinates?” Brooke asked Rilan.
The Elder shook his head of brown frizzy hair. “One, Arawn doesn’t want you girls to leave. And two, I can’t get you exactly there. You’ll likely end up in the ocean. Which is probably why she picked such an isolated location.” He scowled.
“Then it makes sense that I should go. If you drop me in the middle of the ocean, I’ll be fine.” Excitement crept into Brooke’s voice. “Kai comes with me, we grab her, and pop back here.”
“It’s too risky, child. Arawn is right to keep you here.” Rilan’s voice brokered no argument.
Brooke seethed and the air temperature seemed to drop. Kai didn’t look happy, glaring at Whysper’s furniture as he stalked the room.
Alina bit her lip. She didn’t even know Rosa, but she wanted to help her. Not just because she might in turn be able to help Alina, but because the woman obviously held the respect of her sisters and their mates.
Would it be possible for them to sneak away and help her? But how? To go to a different part of the realm, they needed—
I know what to do.
“You know, I’m exhausted,” Alina said, stretching her arms over her head. “Whysper, thank you for trying to contact Rosa.” She looked pointedly at each of her sisters. “Would you mind walking with me back to my room? I still get turned around in this place.”
Gin quirked an eyebrow as she turned to Alina. “Yeah, let’s do that. I know this place is a maze.”
Brooke was still staring at the stove, arms folded. “I don’t like this.”
Gin grabbed her arm. “Let’s let Whysper rest. I have something I wanted to talk to you about anyway.”
Brooke slid her a perplexed glance, but nodded and rubbed her forehead. “Okay.” Kai draped an arm around her shoulders and the four of them said their goodbyes and left.
As soon as they were a good distance away from Whysper’s rooms, Gin turned to Alina. “What’s going on?”
“You have to come with me. Wait, does anyone have a pen?” Alina hurried ahead as they neared the rotunda.
A mumbled chorus of no’s met her ears as they entered the cool circular space. Alina glanced back at them. “None of you? I’ll ask—”
“Oof! Hey, what’s going on? I got your text, Gin.” Nicole caught Alina’s shoulders as she ran straight into her. Behind her, Gunnar looked somewhere between amused and concerned.
“Do you have a pen?” Alina asked.
“What? No.” Nicole’s brows knit in confusion. “Why? And where are you going?”
“Hang on.” Alina hurried across the space to Ana’s desk. The pretty brunette looked like she hadn’t moved since earlier. She also looked one hundred percent unflappable, like there wasn’t an alarm or an alert or intruders nearby. “Ana, can I have a pen?”
Ana pointed to a cup full of them. “Take your pick,” she said and then took an incoming call.
“Thanks.” Alina peered at the selection and grabbed one, then jogged back to her family. Brooke was filling Nicole in on the details of her dream, and the current situation with Rosa.
“I want to go too. That witch helped us when she didn’t need to.” Nicole’s tone was fierce. “No way in hell I’m going to let her get hurt.”
The elevator doors slid open and they piled inside. Gin started to press the button for the fifth floor, but Alina stopped her. “Fourth floor.”
Gin snapped her head to Alina. “Why? That’s not your floor.”
“It’s Caine’s floor. We’re going to his room.”
“He know that?” Kai tilted his head and folded his arms.
“No.” Alina unscrewed the two halves of the pen and pulled out the part she needed.
“What’s going on?” Nicole asked.
“Is
there surveillance in this elevator?” Alina asked. She could spot basic cameras, but she’d bet Arawn had installed something a hundred times more powerful and subtle.
“Video. Not audio,” Gunnar said.
Huh. She’d also bet someone here could read lips. “I’ll tell you when we get to Caine’s room.”
Thirty seconds later, Alina was pressed up to Caine’s door with her sisters behind her. She slid the pen part into the lock, then moved it gently until she heard the tumblers click. She pushed the door open and they all rushed inside.
Wow. Caine’s room didn’t seem quite so big with her sisters and two Watchers in it. Gunnar propped his hands on his hips and gave her a no-nonsense look. “Tell me why we just busted into our comrade’s room.”
Alina took a steadying breath. “You need transportation amulets, right?”
“Yeah, unless an Elder will help us,” Kai grunted. “Which they won’t because none of them will go against the boss.”
“Normally I wouldn’t either. He scares the crap out of me even though he’s not my boss,” Alina said. “And I haven’t met Rosa, but I have an overwhelming need to help you get to her. And Caine has all of these.” She pointed to the bowl of amulets on his dresser.
“Whoa. Dude is stocked.” Kai gave a low whistle.
“Arawn sends him out often.” Gunnar walked over and sifted through the charms. “We need one that will get us as close as possible.”
“I have no idea how to read those things,” Brooke said. “They’re in Demonish.”
“Found ‘em,” Gunnar said.
Kai shook his head. “I’m totally on board, but you know Arawn is gonna string us up by our balls.”
“Well, I’m fond of your balls, so he’s gonna have to go through me first,” Brooke said, with utter seriousness.
“I love it when you talk dirty, Sprite.” Kai dropped a quick kiss on her lips.
Nicole giggled. Gunnar frowned. “These might drop us in the ocean, miles from the island.”
“Yes. If we’re below, I’ll get us to the surface. Then the guys can help us swim,” Brooke said.
“But won’t you be out numbered?” Gin asked.
“Maybe, but I’ve been working on something new.” Nicole spoke the last two words in a sing-song voice.
“What?” Alina asked.
“I took a cue from Brooke, who sucked the water out of a bad guy, and adjusted that particular skill to my ability.” Nicole winked.
“You can suck the air out of someone?” Gin’s jaw dropped.
“Yes!” Nicole practically whisper-yelled. Then her smile softened to one of pure love and she swung her gaze to Gunnar. “Thanks to the help of my loving and patient guinea pig.”
Gunnar flashed her a smile before sliding back into tactical mode. “Okay, so. We may technically be outnumbered,” he said. “But Nic can take out several demons by drawing the air out of their lungs. And Brooke can take out more by draining the water from them. That eliminates the enemy. We scoop up Rosa, come back, and still have time to fight Elegia.”
“And if she targets here before we get back,” Kai said. “At least all the other Watchers are ready for her. This place won’t be defenseless.”
“Unlike Rosa, who’s all alone,” Brooke added.
Gin folded her arms and nodded. “We’re a good team.”
Nicole clasped Gunnar’s hand and smiled at Gin, then Alina. “Agreed, now that we’re all here.”
Brooke took Kai’s hand and Nicole’s free one. “We have a witch to rescue.”
Gunnar spoke the Demonish words that would open the portal. A shimmering disc appeared in the center of the room, stretching to a diameter of six feet. Alina’s nerves skittered at her duplicity. She’d not only helped Arawn’s men evade orders, but she’d broken into Caine’s room again to do it. Yet, she couldn’t tamp down the conviction that this was what she needed to do.
Her sisters and their mates stepped into the portal. With a soft pop, the giant ring closed.
Gin stared at the spot where their sisters had just stood. “Now what?”
“I don’t want to wait around.” Alina rolled her shoulders. “How about more target practice?”
“Hang on, let me see what Mathias found,” Gin said, rubbing her sternum. Her eyes glazed with an unfocused look, then she blinked rapidly. “Ugh. He positively identified the scent of a vampire and a witch, in addition to the three Serus and the hellhound.”
“Crap.” Alina plopped onto Caine’s bed. “She must have tracked me and my dad. Didn’t take her very long to find this place.”
Gin paced to the window. “True, but the Watchers have been looking for Elegia for months. This way, she comes to them. And if they strike on Watcher home turf, that gives us the advantage.”
Alina nodded. “And now she’s lost the element of surprise.”
“We were going to run into her one of these days. May as well be now.”
“Yeah.” May as well be before I fall completely in love with Caine. Because if that happened, she wouldn’t be around to help.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CAINE AND MATHIAS STRODE ACROSS the back lawn of HQ. Arawn came outside to meet them, the air around him charged with anger. ”So?”
Mathias stopped with his hands on his hips. “The two mystery individuals are a vampire and a witch.”
Arawn dropped his head back and glared up at the stars. “That fucking bitch.” He huffed out a breath. “Said I’d love for her to knock on my door and then here she is. Fuck me.”
“Want me to go after her?” Mathias asked.
“Nah. They went through a portal, and I know you can follow the trail, but it takes longer.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. “We stay here. She’ll be back.”
“She’ll bring reinforcements,” Caine said.
“Let her. Every Watcher will be primed for a fight. We’ll be ready.”
“She’s crazy, remember. And she wants something we have. She’s already killed in pursuit of Alina and Sebastian.” Caine’s blood heated at the thought if this crazy bitch vampire trying to harm his woman.
His woman. Because she had to be. It couldn’t be any other way.
He’d die before letting her get hurt, and that had nothing to do with the oath Arawn had made all the Lash vow to protect the Solsti.
No, it had to do with the very real and very simple fact that he’d fallen in love with her. Now he just had to make her see that they belonged together.
Would she?
There was something else about her, something he couldn’t describe, something that simmered below the surface and occupied her mind. He’d sensed it even before they’d slipped up and had sex without a condom. But she hadn’t shared it. Did she worry about her dad being alone? Hell, Arawn would probably offer Sebastian a place to stay, here at HQ. The vamp might be able to teach them a few tricks.
Caine wondered idly if he should talk to Sebastian and tell him he planned to mate his daughter. It was an old custom, not practiced much on Torth anymore. Caine frowned, unsure of how traditional Sebastian was. From what he could tell, not very.
“We can handle crazy.” Arawn’s voice drew Caine from his thoughts. “And we have the Solsti.”
If Caine didn’t know his leader better, he’d swear he was looking forward to this showdown. “Alina can open the earth,” Caine said, still in awe of her power. “And don’t forget the Makara warriors are apparently at her beck and call.”
Arawn grunted. “That’ll be a nice surprise to have in our pocket.” He glanced beyond Caine and Mathias at a noise near the perimeter. “There’s Brenin and Scorpio. I need to check in with them. Mathias, get with the rest of the inner circle Watchers. Tell them Operation Sunrise is a go in thirty.”
Mathias nodded. “And the Solsti?”
“Ideally, I want them to stay here in the yard, within our wards, until we need them. Try to fight this vamp and her crew on our own. But realistically, I can tell those four are going to fight
me at every turn.” He glared at the grass beneath their feet. “So, I’m going to have them work in teams with their mates. Unless they want to work as a team of four or in pairs. Whatever shit they can do with mixing their powers is fine. And Caine, you keep an eye on Alina.”
Caine nodded. He would have done so anyway. But his perceptive leader probably knew that.
Arawn jogged to meet Brenin and Scorpio.
Mathias and Caine headed toward the main building. Mathias typed rapidly and ten seconds later Caine’s screen showed his message. “Operation Sunrise in thirty minutes.”
“Think the girls are still with Whysper?” Caine asked.
Mathias took a deep breath as they strode through the back door. “No. They’re in a different wing. Hang on.”
They walked deeper into the facility, toward the rotunda. Mathias drew another deep breath and made a face. “They’re in your room.”
“All of them?” Caine asked. What would they all be doing there?
“No, just Gin and Alina.” Mathias pushed open the door to the stairs.
“Good idea,” Caine muttered. “Sick of riding in that damn elevator all day.”
In seconds they were on the fourth floor and heading to Caine’s door. “She have a key?” Mathias asked.
“Nope.” Caine couldn’t keep a note of pride out of his voice. Something as simple as a lock wouldn’t stop his Solsti.
Mathias slid him a glance. “I doubt you leave your door unlocked, so…how is she inside?”
“She picked the lock.”
“No shit?”
“She did it before. Been breaking and entering for years.”
“Hell, you know how to pick ‘em,” Mathias rubbed a hand over his jaw. “A thief who also commands an undead army?”
Caine shrugged. “Yeah, about that, don’t know exactly what we’re—”
His door opened just as they reached it, and Alina and Gin stepped out. They gasped in unison when they saw the men. Difference was, Gin melted in Mathias’s arms while Alina stood there looking guilty.
“I’m sorry I broke in.” She looked at her feet. “Again.”
“It’s okay.” He couldn’t fathom what she would want in there. “Looks like I need to get you a key.”